1960 European Cup final

The 1960 European Cup final was a football match played at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland on 18 May 1960 as the conclusion to the 1959–60 European Cup.

1960 European Cup final

Match programme cover
Event	1959–60 European Cup
Real Madrid Eintracht Frankfurt 7 3
Date	18 May 1960
Venue	Hampden Park, Glasgow
Referee	Jack Mowat (Scotland)
Attendance	127,621[1]
← 1959 1961 →

The match was contested by four-time defending champions Real Madrid of Spain, the only previous team to win the competition, and Eintracht Frankfurt of West Germany.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest football matches ever played, Real Madrid won 7–3 in front of a record crowd of over 127,000 people. Real Madrid players Alfredo Di Stéfano (3) and Ferenc Puskás (4) both scored hat-tricks in the final.

Until the 2025 UEFA Champions League final, in which Paris Saint-Germain defeated Inter Milan 5–0, the match held the record for the largest margin of victory in a European Cup final.

Background

Real Madrid had won the first four editions of the European Cup in 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1959.^[2]

Eintracht Frankfurt had not played in European competitions before 1959 but a Frankfurt XI, made up of players from the city, competed in the inaugural Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1955–58.^[3]

The match was initially in doubt as the German Football Association (DFB) had banned their clubs from taking part in matches with any team containing Ferenc Puskás. Following defeat to West Germany in the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, Puskas – who had scored in the match for the defeated Hungary side – alleged that the West German players had used drugs. As a result, Puskás had to make a formal written apology to the DFB before the match could take place.^[4]

Route to the final

Real Madrid				Round	Eintracht Frankfurt
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg		Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Jeunesse Esch	12–2	7–0 (H)	5–2 (A)	First round	Young Boys	5–2	4–1 (A)	1–1 (H)
Nice	6–3	2–3 (A)	4–0 (H)	Quarter-finals	Wiener Sport-Club	3–2	2–1 (H)	1–1 (A)
Barcelona	6–2	3–1 (H)	3–1 (A)	Semi-finals	Rangers	12–4	6–1 (H)	6–3 (A)

Real Madrid

Real Madrid qualified for the competition as defending champions and they were given a bye in the preliminary round.^[5][6]

In the first round, Real Madrid defeated Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg 7–0 at home in the first leg and 5–2 away in the second leg to advance 12–2 on aggregate.^[6]

Real Madrid then faced Nice of France in the quarter-finals. After losing the first leg 3–2 away from home, Real Madrid won the second leg at home 4–0 to advance to the semi-finals 6–3 on aggregate.^[6]

In the semi-finals, Real Madrid faced rivals Barcelona. After winning the first leg 3–1 at home, Real Madrid won the second leg away from home by the same scoreline to advance to the final 6–2 on aggregate.^[6]

Eintracht Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt qualified for the competition after winning the German football championship for the only time in 1959.^[7]

In the preliminary round, Eintracht Frankfurt were due to play Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS) of Finland but were given a walkover after KuPS withdrew.^[6]

Young Boys of Switzerland were Eintracht Frankfurt's opponents in the first round. After winning the first leg 4–1 away from home, Eintracht Frankfurt drew the second leg at home 1–1 to advance 5–2 on aggregate.^[6]

Eintracht Frankfurt then faced Wiener Sport-Club of Austria in the quarter-finals. After winning the first leg 2–1 at home, Eintracht Frankfurt drew the second leg away from home 1–1 to advance 3–2 on aggregate.^[6]

In the semi-finals, Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Rangers of Scotland 6–1 in the first leg at home and 6–3 in the second leg away from home to advance to the final 12–4 on aggregate.^[6]

Match

Details

18 May 1960

19:30 BST

Real Madrid	7–3	Eintracht Frankfurt
Di Stéfano 27', 30', 73' Puskás 45+1', 56' (pen.), 60', 71'	Report	Kress 18' Stein 72', 75'

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 127,621

Referee: Jack Mowat (Scotland)

Real Madrid

Eintracht Frankfurt

GK 1 Rogelio Domínguez RB 2 Marquitos LB 3 Pachín RH 4 José María Vidal CB 5 José Santamaría[a] LH 6 José María Zárraga (c) OR 7 Canário IR 8 Luis del Sol CF 9 Alfredo Di Stéfano[b] IL 10 Ferenc Puskás OL 11 Paco Gento Manager: Miguel Muñoz

GK 1 Egon Loy RB 2 Friedel Lutz LB 3 Hermann Höfer RH 4 Hans Weilbächer (c) CB 5 Hans-Walter Eigenbrodt LH 6 Dieter Stinka OR 7 Richard Kress IR 8 Dieter Lindner CF 9 Erwin Stein IL 10 Alfred Pfaff OL 11 Erich Meier Manager: Paul Oßwald

Aftermath

The match set a record attendance for a European Cup final at over 127,000 while an estimated 70 million people across Europe watched the match on television. It also set a record for the most goals in a European Cup final at 10. As a result, the match is often quoted as one of the greatest football matches ever played.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Real Madrid's four-goal winning margin set a record for the largest margin of victory in a European Cup final. This would not be bettered until decades after the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Champions League. In 2025, Paris Saint-Germain defeated Inter Milan 5–0 to break the record.^[2]

See also

• 1959–60 European Cup
• Eintracht Frankfurt in European football
• Real Madrid CF in international football competitions

Notes

1. Although Santamaría had amassed 20 caps for his native Uruguay from 1952 to 1957, he had been representing Spain in international play since 1958.^[8]
2. Di Stéfano, a native Argentine, had represented both Argentina and Colombia earlier in his international career; however, he became a naturalised citizen of Spain in 1956, and began playing for the Spanish national team in 1957.^[8][9]